Symposium at Yale School of Architecture Explores Legacy of James Stirling

A symposium examining the work of 1981 Pritzker Prize laureate James Stirling will take place May 9–10 at the Yale School of Architecture, where the influential architect taught in 1959 and from 1966 to 1984.

Titled “James Stirling, Architect and Teacher,” the symposium is being convened by writer and professor of architecture Anthony Vidler, dean of the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union. It is being held in anticipation of a major exhibition on Stirling being organized by the Yale School of Architecture, the Canadian Centre for Architecture and the Yale Center for British Art.

Stirling was “an architect whose career was not without controversy but whose built work and projects stand out as among the most influential and innovative of the second half of the 20th century,” note symposium organizers, citing his creative use of “historical sources from the early-avant garde” and the British vernacular traditions to enrich “often formulaic commonplaces of mid-century modernism.”

The symposium will begin on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. with introductory remarks by Amy Meyers, Yale Center for British Art; Phyllis Lambert, Canadian Centre for Architecture and Robert A.M. Stern, dean of the Yale School of Architecture. The keynote address will be delivered by Vidler; his talk, which is the Brendan Gill Lecture, is titled “James Stirling: Entering the Archive.”

The first session on Sunday, “Discovering the Archive,” will begin at 10 a.m.
Mark Crinson, Manchester University; Amanda Reeser Lawrence, Northeastern; Emmanuel Petit, Yale; and Claire Zimmerman, University of Michigan, will be the presenters, and Keith Krumwiede will give the response.

The afternoon session, beginning at 1:30 p.m., is composed of two roundtable discussions. The first, titled “Working with Stirling,” will feature Craig Hodgetts, Leon Krier, David Turnbull and Michael Wilford, with moderator Robert Livesey. The second, “Stirling Now,” will include Yale faculty members Peter Eisenman and Kurt Forster and Robert Maxwell. It will be moderated by Vidler.

All events of the symposium take place in Paul Rudolph Hall, 180 York Street. The symposium is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. Call (203) 432-8621 or e-mail archevents@yale.edu.

The Yale School of Architecture is a Registered Provider with the American Institute of Architects Continuing Education System. Credit earned by attending this symposium will be reported to CES records for AIA members. Certificates of completion for non-AIA members are available on request.